What do the names Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, Zhang Yiming, and Evan Spiegel have in common? They’re billionaires that take no responsibility for what happens on their platforms. Powered by scalable internet technologies, these tech founders own and control platforms whose success has largely been thanks to the work put in by their users. The wealth produced by their businesses has been mostly kept by the founders and a small crew of insiders and investors.
Moreover, all of these companies take no responsibility for the damage their platforms have done, everything from spreading hate, violence and misinformation to helping dictators and disrupting elections.
abillion is not going to be like that. The only billion I need is in the number of people going vegan. Our team is building abillion piece by piece based on your feedback and I want to create a community that looks out for each other as much as we all look out for the animals and the planet.
We’re uniquely positioned as a social media and technology company that’s built around shared values that extend beyond our staff and offices and embody the values of our members. As a community built around a mission, we want to break the mold of Silicon Valley founders that own and control companies without bearing any responsibility to their users and society at large.
So it’s with great joy that I’m announcing our Community Equity program. From today, every abillion member can use the US$1 they earn from reviewing a product on our platform to own shares in our company.
I know some of you will immediately ask this question: Does this mean that we’re channeling funds away from the impactful partners we donate to? Not to me – I don’t see this program as driving money away from the incredible non-profits we support, but offering our members a new and very direct way to feel connected with this company.
This will also supercharge our donation program, because a move like this will scale up the community and magnify our combined impact many times over. The math is straightforward, the more members we have, the bigger the donation pool can be, and the more animals, nature and people will benefit. It adds a loop which gets more people eating more vegan food, more people going vegan, and more people helping us donate a lot more.
It means millions of vegan dishes and products will be purchased and reviewed by the community, supporting and enabling sustainable businesses around the world.
I hope we end up owing you, our members, billions of dollars worth of shares. To me, that’s a pretty big win-win. It means more than just a few of you actually believe we will succeed and want to share in our success.
We’re building a company that champions veganism, sustainability and social impact. And while most of the content on abillion focuses on animal welfare, climate change, and food security, sustainability is not just about nature. It’s also about financial sustainability. To be a truly sustainable company, we must nurture our community. So we’re becoming the first and only social media platform in the world where our community is being given a stake in the future we’re all working so hard together to create.
I hope that in the years to come we show the world that it’s possible to build a successful technology company that’s driven by shared values and a mission to spread compassion around the world.
First, of course, we need to convince millions more to join us on our quest to live more sustainably. We have a wonderful, supportive and compassionate community already. We’re a million strong, which is still amazing to me. But given the sheer number of people there are in the world, given the number of people that I know are keen to make responsible and ethical consumer choices, we’re still far from what I know the community can be. So if anything I have written here resonates with you, share this with your friends. And be, and own, a part of what I really hope is a completely different company than you’ve ever come across.
We want to stand with you, and we hope you will stand with us.
To participate in the program, you’ll now see an abillion Community Equity icon on our impact page. Simply pledge the money we’ve put into your wallet to the program. When we go public, we will reward you with shares of abillion equal to the amount of money you have put into this program. It’s that simple. Every review can earn you US$1 of shares. And of course you can still donate as much as you’d like to any of the causes we support!
Thank you for being here, for believing that an app can change the world for the better. And for continuing to make choices that are good for yourself, others, the animals and the planet. We at abillion salute you.
Vikas
